Saturday, 31 March 2012

Week 8 - Dress 3

Material : 100% Polyester with a Polyurethane coating

Cost Per Meter : £5

Amount Used : 2.5m

Sourced From : Mermaid Fabrics , Hackney

This week it was my turn to buy the fabric again and we discussed in our group that we were to have something sporty. I showed a sample of Neoprene and everyone liked it. Due to the high cost of £25pm for Neoprene i found a suitable alternative at 1/5 of the price.

I really loved the fabric as it had a great weight to it so draped well, it didn't fray so hems could be left raw and it still look professional and also you could use both the shiny side (which i used) or the wrong side which was a matt finish.

After a quick lesson from my boss at work about Korean Pattern Cutting and how that every pattern piece is drafted from basic shapes such as squares and circles i decided to embrace this new technique.

From playing around with the lines and measurements on my pattern i decided to create a pattern with no side seam ( which in everyday life you don't normally see) and just shape the center back seam. this led to having a slight point in the seam at the chest/waist/hip point. I thought this would look ugly when finished bus as the picture below shows the points and excess fabric creates these great crease lines.

Another feature that i really love about this jacket is that the point in the back seam at the hip folds on its self to create the effect that its cut like a proper men's jacket with a flap. This illusion really gives it a masculine edge.

In terms of fashion i think this is really stylish and chic and i could see people buying it in shops, whether it be Topshop, or Browns (made in a better fabric!!)

But there was one factor that i only found out after i had completed the jacket and that was that i should have used a Teflon coated sewing machine needle as it would have made sewing easier and the stitching even where i top stitched. But now i know this i can make it better next time

I noticed on a jacket i had (KTZ Linen Jacket - Posted earlier) that the inside seams were bound with bias binding. I thought this was an opportunity to add an accent colour and in my sewing box i found this lemon yellow cotton bias that was bought from Woolworths before i was born.

As i noticed with outer garments, they all have pockets, so to get more confident i repeated the same style of pocket from Skirt 1 (jetted/welt pocket) and using a contrasting white pocket bag just breaks up the block black colour. I think the Jet/Welt pocket detail will become a key feature in future garments for me as i really love the way they look and blend in.